


Penmanship

by introverted_kitten



Series: You Are A Hero [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Cliffhanger, Danny doesn’t know she knows, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Kinda?, One Shot, Part Two, Realisation, Valerie realises stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/introverted_kitten/pseuds/introverted_kitten
Summary: She swore she’d seen that writing somewhere, but she just couldn’t place where.
Series: You Are A Hero [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936279
Comments: 13
Kudos: 93





	Penmanship

It had been weeks since the discussion her and Phantom had at the Nasty Burger, and Valerie was hesitant. Her viewpoint, now, completely upturned and the black haired girl didn’t know what to think.

At first, she’d thought ghosts were incongruous beings, needing terminated out of Amity Park to stay where they habituated. They’d no reason to stay. And then Phantom, and that morsel of a photograph. 

Suddenly, her eyes were opened.

Phantom was here, she wasn’t sure his exact reason. But his past life had been here, his family still here. Only his sister knew of him being dead, that was horrific, she thought.

His parents didn’t know, and they hated ghosts, that’s what he’d alluded to in their conversation - that they wouldn’t love him if they knew he was what they despised. Within, Valerie could understand and sympathise at his judgement, she didn’t want to tell her dad she was the Red Huntress, after all. But that was more because she was scared he’d make her stop, not because her father would hate her.

She was currently at the library, curled up in a dimmed ivory lit room, small opaque chestnut chandelier flitting like a moth in the aphotic room. A vast pile of books streamed like a river, abundantly strewn pages of knowledge about ghosts and the supernatural.

“Nope! Nothing about anything I want to find out.” The girl casually said, gritting her teeth as she tossed yet another book into the growing multitude of ghost brochures that faced back at her with its false decades of theories.

Non of it was fact. It was all wrong.

Why was she even here? If the facts were all wrong about ghosts, she was off to a pretty bad start already.

“You, at the library? I wouldn’t take you for one to do extensive research,” An echoey voice sounded just to her left. 

Valerie turned, met by Phantom slanted on a bookshelf, one arm leaning casually against the wooden structure, the other held out in a questioning gesture.

“And what’s that to you?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Nothing! Nothing!” Phantom threw his hands up into a surrendering gesture, as he walked towards her. As if he was expecting her to attack. “It’s just, well, I wouldn’t really take you for one to delve upon a subject. Uh, no offence, but you did jump to conclusions about the whole ghost thing.”

“None taken,” she replied, looking at the mountain of books. “I’m trying my best, y’know? Ever since that conversation at the Nasty Burger, I wanted to find out more. What better place than here, the library? I guess not. All of these are wrong!” 

Frustrated, Valerie shoved another book aside, glaring at the book with a frozen glare. 

“It’s always been like that, I guess,” Phantom muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Misconceptions passed down. Although I’m glad you’re at least willing to learn.”

“Learn?! Learn where? From who? All these books are wrong!” Valerie threw her hands in the air, sagging back into her chair. The back cut into her shoulders and she sat up. There was nothing! All the research was wrong, the guides, the manuals, everything! She couldn’t exactly learn anything if everything was fake.

“Oh come on, you’re smarter than that!” Phantom exclaimed, walking beside her and gesturing to himself.

“Learn from me! I’m free this afternoon, anyway.” The ghost rambled on, casting a violet backpack - which Valerie didn’t even realise he had until now - onto the desk infront of them. In a sweeping motion, Phantom shoved the usurped guides onto the floor.

“What’s that? Where’d you get that?”

For some reason, the backpack looked familiar to her. Just like the nervous habit Phantom had of rubbing his neck when nervous. Strangely mundane.

“It’s my backpack. What else would it be? Look, here.” With ease, Phantom turned the backpack upside down, items clattering out the open bag.

A green and silver thermos clanged as it bashed the table, a pealing reverberated through the library. Heads turned to look at them, and Valerie flushed at the wincing faces. Beside her, Phantom turned invisible.

“Sly prick!” She whisper hissed beside her. That jerk! He could just turn invisible, leaving her to take the blame. A cool hand suddenly clenched around her upper arm, and covered her mouth from a surprised yell. Her body felt weird.

“Sorry!” Phantom hissed quietly hissed her. “See? I turned you invisible!”

“Well I can’t exactly  see if I’m invisible, can I?”

“That’s the point!” His voice was cocky, and Valerie could only imagine if he was visible that he’d have a shit-eating grin across his face.

“I can’t stand you sometimes, you know that?” Valerie shook her head, disdain clear in her voice.

“Yeah, because I don’t stand. I float.”

Eventually, the various faces that had flared at them turned away, going back to whatever they were doing. Phantom turned them both visible again, and he picked up the thermos from it’s side.

“This as you know, is the Fenton Thermos.” Phantom stated, rolling the cylindrical container in his hands. “It’s currently empty.”

“Yeah. I have my own, although it doesn’t work.”

“It will. Knowing Vlad, he copied the Fenton’s inventions exactly - just making em red instead. I could just charge it with ectoplasm and it’ll work,”

“Sure, you can try.”

Valerie gave him the Thermos. He took it, green embalmed around his hands for a few seconds. A blue blast struck out, which he aimed listlessly at the mountain of ghost books. They disintegrated to cinders.

“Oops.” He gave a small smirk, before handing her the a Thermos back. She blinked, glancing at the pile. That would take some explaining to the library.

“I’ve been thinking about stuff. About-you. Not- not like that!” She stuttered, before continuing. “But, your family. Your family is still alive, aren’t they? Why don’t you tell them?”

“Bit abrupt, aren’t we?” Phantom remarked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

“Sorry, I just, well.. your family deserve to know, don’t they?”

“I guess.” The ghost murmured back, picking at one of his gloves. “But I’m scared of what they’d do to me.”

Phantom, scared? But he was never scared! Always as cheeky as ever, with banter to match. Fearless and bold. But Valerie realised. Maybe he was. He wasn’t perfect, but not was he completly devoid of emotions like most presumed. He felt, he had emotional attachments, still remained in contact with his past family. And sometimes acted too human for Valerie’s liking. The way he flinched in panic at times, the way he was flustered in awkwardness.

“Phantom.” Valerie folded her arms out infront of her, giving him a small smile. “You’re their son. They love you, and they’re probably wondering where you are- how long have you been a ghost?”

“Just a little over six months.”

“I guess- I don’t know if I should ask. I don’t want to be rude or inconsiderate— how did you die?”

She gnawed at her lip, worried about the ghosts reaction. It was inconsiderate and painful, she knew that. It wasn’t fair to ask him. But a small part of her told her so anyway.

Phantom’s eyes glowered brighter, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. On the table, his hands seethed into fists a few times. The air went stale.

“I shouldn’t’ve asked. I- I don’t know.” The Huntress sighed in the awkward silence, Phantom reduced tongue-tied at the table opposite. He looked like he was considering something — but what? Whether to fly away or not?

From their last conversation, she knew he was only fourteen. To have died so young, and become a ghost afterwards. His send off mustn’t have been a peaceful one, she figured.

“I-,” Phantom was about to speak, but froze when a figure stepped into the room, alerting Valerie also. It was Jazz Fenton, the most normal of the eccentric family. Before, Valerie would’ve thought Danny to be normal, but there was something.. odd about him.

“Better go!” Phantom whispered beside her, turning invisible and whisked through the ceiling. Huh. That was odd. Valerie really doubted that Jazz was much of a threat, especially since Phantom was talking to  her , the Red Huntress. 

Then again, then teen wasn’t really sure on the older siblings viewpoint of ghosts, especially since Danny was absolutely terrified of them. Maybe Jazz had a loathing for them, especially since they brought such terror to her brother.

Jazz walked over to her, a small smile on her face. She was carrying many textbooks and notepads overflowing with paper and scribbles. “I’m here to write a thesis. Ghost envy.”

“Ghost envy? Sound interesting. I’m just here- for studying.” She didn’t want to reveal her true intentions, nor put her identity in jeopardy.

“Studying? Has Mr Lancer given you an assignment on ghosts? I thought you were doing Hamlet. That’s what Danny came home with for his book assignment, anyway.” Jazz raised an eyebrow.

Oh crud. Jazz was good. And onto her already. Her fingers clenched the side of the table with worry, and she watched Jazz unfold one of the notepads, filled with swirling penmanship.

“No. I’m just doing extracurricular studying. I mean, since ghosts are such a big part of Amity, I might as well gain my knowledge.” Valerie sighed, letting her chin fall into her hands, Jazz humming knowingly opposite. She took it.

Although, dread pitted her stomach, as Valerie realised that Phantom’s backpack was still on the table. Along with the two Fenton Thermoses, both red and green, glimmering in dimpled light. And Valerie didn’t fancy being accused of thievery, thank you very much.

Then out the corner of her eye, the words that Jazz was writing caught her eye. Not the context of the letters, though. It was the handwriting.

She swore she’d seen that writing somewhere, but she just couldn’t place where. 

The girl pondered at the handwriting, while picking up the two Thermoses and setting them into the violet backpack that Phantom had strayed behind. Jazz hadn’t thought anything of that either.

Where was it from? Where would she have seen Jazz’s handwriting before that made it so painstakingly familiar? She hadn’t interacted with Jazz face to face for at least a month or so. But it didn’t feel like a while ago, it was almost like she had seen it yesterday.

Valerie went to put the red Thermos in the bag, but it wouldn’t budge. Growling in frustration, she grabbed the side of the can. A chunk of a burnt ghost manual jammed in the hoop. Great. 

Ripping the shreds of paper, she noted some text on one side of the paper.

Probably nothing.  Even so, she still took a look at the shredded piece of manual, intrigued.

_ Extensive research has been ahead to discover what is thought to be one of the rarest types of ghosts to exist. None have been recorded, although government incorporations, The Guys in White [see pg 5, ref "Agencies"] suspect that Amity Park [pg 10, ref “Locations”] is host to one, named Phantom, dubbed Invisobill by public eye. _

_ These are allegedly know as a “halfa” [see pg 11, ref “Ghosts that inhabit Amity Park” direct to “Skulker”].  _ _ Phantom is known to be a heroic ghost, whether this is an act or not is still undetermined.  
_

_ He is normally shown to be an outcast from any fellow ghost, regularly haunts Amity Park instead of a Lair [pg 20, “Ghost Zone”]. His appearance also seems more human than most ghosts, who have pale green or blue skin, Phantom shows more of a tannish hue. Nor does the latter show to have a set obsession [pg 15, “Obsessions”]. _

Halfa.

Phantom was a halfa. Just like Danielle.

All this time. She’d been shooting at a human. No wonder he didn’t want to answer how he’d died. Because he  _ hadn’t _ . 

But that left a question.

_ Who was Phantom? _

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jazz accidentally knocking her pen off the table, tutting in annoyance. And then she saw it.

The handwriting, curly and sprawled on paper. Sprawled on the notepad.

Penmanship sprawled on the photograph.

_ Oh Danny. Why didn’t you say anything? _

**Author's Note:**

> Continuation one shot to round this off! I did want it to end on this, but I’d be willing to continue this series if people want me to. It’s fun to write.


End file.
